1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electric connector, and in particular to a card connector connecting to an electric card.
2. Description of the Related Art
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional card connector for an electric card, such as a telephone card or an ATM card, to be inserted for connection includes a base 10 and two rows of terminals 20 arranged on the base 10. The base 10 includes a top surface 11 and a bottom surface 12, and is formed with a card slot 13 for receiving the electric card. The card slot 13 has an insert port 14. Each terminal 20 has a contact 21 and a pin 22. The contacts 21 in the shapes of convex arcs facing toward the top surface 11 of the base are positioned within the card slot. The pins 22 of the two rows of terminals extend out of the bottom surface 12 of the base from a first side near the insert port 14 and a second side opposite to the insert port 14, respectively.
When being used, the card connector is typically mounted on a face side of a circuit board 90. An electric card 95 is inserted from the insert port 14 according to an indicated direction on the card (or with connection points 96 facing downward). Then, the connection points 96 may elastically contact the contacts 21 of the two rows of terminals, respectively. At this time, the contacts 21 are elastically biased toward the bottom surface 12 of the base.
In the conventional card connector mentioned above, because all of the contacts of the terminals are convex toward the top surface 11 of the base, there are some following disadvantages during usage.
1. The card has to be inserted according to the indicated direction on the card (or with the connection points 96 facing downward). When the card is oppositely inserted, the machine will not accept the card.
2. Because miniature electrical products are gradually developed, if the layout space of the circuit board is limited, the card connector has to be arranged on a back side of the circuit board. In this case, the contacts 21 of the terminals have to be convex downward. If the card is inserted according to the indicated direction on the card (or with the connection points 96 facing downward), the contacts 21 may not contact the connection points 96 and the card is not accepted similarly.
An object of the invention is to provide a card connector suitable for the operation according to the indicated direction on the electric card even when the card connector is mounted on a back side of the circuit board.
Another object of the invention is to provide a card connector suitable for card insertions and connections in a face-up manner or a face-down manner, thereby facilitating the user""s operation.
To achieve the above-mentioned objects, the invention provides a card connector including a base and two rows of upper terminals. The base has a top surface and a bottom surface and is formed with a card slot for receiving an electric card. The card slot has an insert port from which the electric card may be inserted. The upper terminals are arranged on the base. Each of the upper terminals has a contact positioned within the card slot for elastically contacting the inserted electric card, a pin extending out of the bottom surface of the base, and an extension connecting the contact to the pin. Each of the contacts of the upper terminals is convex toward the bottom surface of the base. Each of the contacts of the upper terminals is elastically biased toward the top surface of the base when contacting the electric card. Each of the pins of the upper terminals extends out of the bottom surface of the base from a side opposite to the insert port of the card slot.